. >>> reporter: 73-year-old mort allen takes medication for high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes managing all those prescriptions being confusing at times. >> this one drug, it's either blue or it's white. it changes colors. and so you don't really know. >> reporter: many of his pills are generic, which can vary in color and shape from brand names. now a new study from brigham and women's hospital shows when pills look different, patients are 50% more likely to stop taking them. >> so if you are used to taking these guys, if we give you this, you're going to be obviously confused, saying what is this white pill? mine is oblong. >> reporter: generic medications account for over 70% of prescriptions filled in the u.s. doctors say it's important that patients understand even though your drugs can look different, they're still the same. >> during consultation we tell them there's a difference in shapes and size with the same pill, it's still the same generic, everything is the same. it just looks a little different. then in addition, we put a little sticker on the bottle saying same